Fruit-drying apparatus.



G. U. MOINTOSH. FRUIT DRYING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23; 1912.

Patentedf bebgflwl' l.

2 sums-SHEET Cl 0. MoINTOSH. FRUIT DRYING APPARATUS.

- APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1912. 1,122,018. Patentefl Dec. 22,1914.

2 SHEBTS-fiHEET 2.

e j I UNITED srnrns PATENT orrion.

CHARLES C. MCINTOSH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE D.

. PARKER, 0F RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA.

FRUIT-DRYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pafentgd 22, 1914.

Application filed September 23, 1912. Serial N 0. 721,974.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES C. MCINTOSH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Los Angeles', in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, have mvented a certain new and useful Fruit-Drying Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact de-- .scription of the invention, suchas will en 7 hereinafter.

One object of the invention is to provide novel and improved devices suitably arranged in the apparatus and adapted to wipe and dry the fruit.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a construction which is simple in character, economical to manufacture, install and maintain, and effective in action.

Others-objects and the advantages of the invention will be 'aparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following description, of the preferred form of apparatus embodying the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which it Figural is a partly broken and sectional plan view of-the apparatus embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken and sectional view of a portion of the apparatus taken-on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged partly broken and sectional view of one of the wiping devices and its mounting.

The runway 6 may have one end thereof resting on thcrosspiece 7 on the upper part of the frame 8 of the feeding device 9 which latter may-beof any suitable or approved construction.

i As shown, the feeding device 9-may consist of side boards 10 mounted rearwardly thereof on pivots 11 on the frame 8, crosspieces 12 connected between the sideboards 10, andspaced tubes 13 of flexible material arranged on the crosspieces 12 and in par- I sprocket wheel 21 on the shaft 17.

allel with the sideboards 10. The sideboards 10 at the forward end thereof'may extend over and contact with the runway 6, and the feeding device 9 may be oscillated by means of the cams 14 which are mounted on the shaft'15 and adapted to intermittently contact with the wear-resisting pieces 16 on one -of the cross-pieces 12 at the forward end of the feeding device. ,The shaft 15 may be operatively connected with the shaft 17 -arranged under the rear end of the feeding device and onthe forward end of the frame 18 of the fruit drierhereinafter described' by means of sprocket chain '19.passing over sprocket wheel20 on the shaft 15 and over The fruit drier may be constructed as fol lows: The casing 22, preferably of galvanized sheet iron, may be provided With suit..-*

able doors 23 and it may be suitably mounted on aframeworkconsistingof longitudinal sills 24 connected together by crosspieces 25, uprights 26 suitably secured to the sills 24, and

crosspieces 27 connected'between the upper ends of, the uprights 26. Any suitable or approved form of device may be employed for" conveying the fruit 28. through the casing 22 from the feeding device 9, that shown consisting of rollers 29 which are spaced a short distance apart and pivotally mounted at the ends thereof on pins 30 carried'by sprocket chains 31 which pass over sprocket wheels 32 on the shaft 17 and over sprocket wheels 33 on the shaft 34 which 'is suitably mounted on the uprights 26 at the rear of the drier.

On the sides of the casing 22 maybe suitably affixed the strips 35 which are adapted to walls of the casing 22 to prevent the fruit 28 moving over the ends of the rollers. The shafts 17 and 34 may have suitably mounted thereon the circular guides 37 with the 1 periphery of which the rollers 29 may contact in being moved over said shafts. The conveying device maybe driven by belt 38- on the pulley 39 mounted on one end of the shaft 40 whichis suitably mounted on the 105 uprights 26 at the rear of the drier and has on its other end a sprocket wheel 41 over which andthe sprocket wheel 42 on the shaft 34 passes the sprocket chain 43. The upper portion of the openings 44 through which 11 and? the conveying device extends at the front placed together, secured in a suitable manner at the upper end portion thereof to have the lower end portion thereof contact with the fruit on the conveying device. To render more efiective' the action of the wiping devices they may have motion imparted to them by any suitable means. As shown, they may be aflixed to the shafts 47 which are mounted in bearings 48 on the uprights 26 and have on one end thereof the grooved pulleys 49.' Preferably the absorbent material 46 is aflixed to the shafts 47 by placing the portion of it central of its ends on said shafts and clamping it by means of strips 50 disposed on opposite sides of said shafts and secured by bolts 51 passing through said shafts as shown. In operation, itwill be understood that the wiping devices act in an effective manner to thoroughly and quickly dry the fruit which results in cooling the fruit and prevents mildew and decay of the fruit. The drying and cooling results are enhanced by moving the absorbent material 46 to agitate and circulate the air in the casing 22. Movement of the absorbent material 46 may be afl'ected by the endless rope 52 preferably passed over the pulley 53 on the'shaft 54and over the pulleys 49 to turn, adjacent of the shafts 47 in opposite directions. The shaft 54 may havethereon the pulley 55 driven by belt 56, and a. suitable device 5'? for tensioning the rope 52 may be suitably mounted on the casing 22.

If desired, the air in the casing 22' maybe heated by any suitable means, that shown consisting of one or more gas burners 58 adjacent to the doors 59 in the lower part of the casing. Bafile plates or shields 60 may be suitably afiixed to the casing to be interposed between the burners 58 "and the conveying device.

While one form of apparatus embodying the invention has been particularly illustrated and described, there are many changes and modifications thereof that will readily occur to those skilled in the art, wherefore, theright isreserved to all such changes and modifications as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. In fruit dryingapparatus, the combination of a devicefor conveying fruit, and a device for drying the fruit consisting of flexible material, a shaft, means for securing to said shaft the upper end portion of the materialto have the lower end portion thereof contact with the fruit, and means for rotating said shaft.

2. In fruit drying apparatus, the combination of a shaft, flexible absorbent material having a portion thereof between its ends placed on said shaft and arranged to have its end portions wipe the fruit, and means to rotate said shaft.

3. In fruit drying apparatus, the combination of a casing, a device for conveying fruit through the casing, a plurality of shafts, flexible absorbent material mounted on said shafts and arranged in the .casingin proximity to the first device and'adapted to wipe the fruit, and means for rotating adjacent shafts-in opposite directions.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California,

this 16th. day of September, A. D. 1912.

CHARLES C. MCINTOSH. Witnesses 2.

' A.-H. Lmnnns,

FRED A. MANSFIELD. 

